RHOPALOCKU. 1 .1/. I /.. DM .V. 1 . 21 



A female specimen from Province Welleslcv is Iktc ligared. TIk^ smallest specimen 

 which I possess (58 millim.) is from West Africa, althou<,4i ordinarily sized specimens are 

 i^enerally received from that district ; the largest specimens in my collection are from Northern 

 India and Southern Africa, though nu rule can l)e postulated in this respect. Figures of Itoth 

 the larva and pupa of this insect have heen given {miir pp. '2 it 3). 



The larva m Ceylon feeds on Calotropia (jujanlra and Asdepias i-nmsuvica ;* in Java, 

 according to Dr. Horsfield, on the first named, called Ity the natives " Widuri" ; in Continental 

 India on Calotropis sp.;t and in S. Africa on (romplionirpus fruticosus and Andepias sp. \ 



This species is not only remarkalile for its wide distribution, hut also for the extraordinary 

 phenomenon of its being miinid-ed by six or eight other butterflies and moths, a fact which 

 will be treated more fully subsequently when descril)ing some of the mimicking species. 



Genus EUPLCEA. 



Kupln-K, Fabi-icius, Illigcr's Mag., vi., p. 280 (18081 ; Donbl., Gen. Diurii. Lep., p. 8G (1847) ; Trimeii, Ehop. 

 AtV. Austi-., p. 83 (1862k 



AnteniiiTS gradually clavate. "Wings opaque and dark coloured. Anterior wings more or less triangular 

 and varying much in shape, but in the male sex geuerallj' having the inner margin more or less produced 

 and convex, and covering some basal portion of the jiosterior wings ; in the female sex the inner 

 margin is non-produced and sometimes slightly emarginate. § First subcostal nervule emitted at some 

 little distance before the end of the cell, second emitted at end of cell ; upper disco-cellular nervule shortest. 

 Posterior wings broad and subtriangular ; costal nervure somewhat short, and curved near base. 



Males usually provided with one or more pseudo-scent glands or brands on anterior wings, and very 

 frequently with a pale discoidal patch to posterior wings. 



Awaiting Mr. Moore's intended enumeration and revision of the genus Euplcea (as formerly 

 and in this work understood), wherein many new species are to be described, it would prove 

 misleading to give any approximate estimate as to the number of species comprised in this very 

 extensive genus. 



EupUva is widely distributed throughout the Malayan Archipelago and Polynesia ; in fact, 

 we may accept these regions as the head-quarters of the genus. It is likewise found 

 throughout the warmer parts of Asia (including its neighbouring islands) and Australia ; it 

 also inhabits the islands of Mauritius, Bourbon, and Madagascar. Trimen || gives South 

 Africa as the habitat of a species {E. (joudotii, Boisd.), from specimens contained in the British 

 Museum. As, however, Butler, in his two subsequent papers on the genus, IT does not give 

 that habitat for the Museum specimens, South Africa may be considered for the present as 

 a doubtful locality. 



The short vittaj so frequently found on the anterior wings of the males, have been, 



••= Moore, Leji. Ceylon, p. 7. \ Lang., Eiit. Mo. M:i,l,'., i.. p. liU ; ami De la Clianiiu'tte, ibid., ii., p. 37. 



) Trimeu, Rhop. Afr. Aiistr., p. 90. 



§ This sexual cliffereiice in the shape of the anterior wings is found in all tlie species here described. 



,1 Rhop. Afi-. Austr., p. 84 (18G2|. 



•I Proc. Zool. Soc., 1800, p. iSOl, and Jonru. Linn. Sue, Zool., vol. xiv., p. '298. 



M.-iRcn 31, 188-i. G 



